England skipper Eoin Morgan said on Friday that Australia, their opponents for Saturday's match in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, are a very strong side. He also believes that Australia are the joint second-favourites to win the tournament. Both England and Australia sit at first and second place in Group 1 with back-to-back wins, making the clash in Dubai an important one.
"I think it's probably going to be one of our most difficult games in this group stage. Australia are a very strong side. They've gone 2 for 2, very much like us, and they've started the tournament well. Coming into the tournament, they probably would be considered joint second-favourites, along with us. They're a side that we know pretty well. We played against them a lot over two or three years. So, looking forward to a really good game," Morgan said in the pre-match press conference.
"I suppose you learn a hell of a lot about how they play their cricket, how disciplined they can be, and I suppose when they get on top, they can be a difficult side to play against when you try and wrestle momentum back," added Morgan.
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Asked about what would be the biggest challenge for England ahead of their third match in the Super 12 stage, Morgan remarked, "I think the challenge for us is that we're not playing at home. So trying to adapt our style of play to conditions over here to try and win the game. So I think using a little bit of that experience I talked about to try and achieve that and try to unravel the game as it unfolds according to conditions as opposed to just against the opposition, I think is important."
"The one thing we're most proud of so far is our level of performance and intensity has been pretty good in the two games that we've played. Obviously, the challenge is continuing that for our next three games in pursuit of getting through to that next phase of the tournament."
Morgan also gave an update on the fitness of pacers Mark Wood and Tom Curran, who are yet to feature in the tournament. While Wood has been struggling with a left ankle niggle, Curran has a knee injury.
"They're progressing very well. I suppose from where they were the first game, they've come a long way. We're going to make a call on that tomorrow to see how training is, and then tomorrow we'll take a look as well to make a call."
